London, March 13, 2026, 18:44 GMT
Bunzl extended a late-week rebound on Friday, with shares closing up 2.13% at 2,304 pence while the FTSE 100 slipped 0.43%. The stock is up about 3.6% over the past two sessions, though it is still roughly 25.6% below its 52-week high. 1
The move matters because Bunzl is still working through the fallout from last April’s profit warning and December’s fresh caution on margins. This month’s annual results repeated 2026 guidance and pointed to better second-half execution, especially in North America, where the group has been trying to repair performance after operational challenges. 2
Bunzl, which distributes packaging, cleaning and safety products to foodservice, retail and healthcare customers, posted 2025 revenue of 11.85 billion pounds and adjusted operating profit of 910.3 million pounds. For 2026, it forecast moderate revenue growth, but said operating margin — a simple measure of profit on sales — would be slightly lower year on year. 3
Chief Executive Frank van Zanten called 2025 a “challenging year” but said the group’s “more stable profit outlook” for 2026 was unchanged. He also said Bunzl’s business model remained robust enough to support medium-term growth. 4
North America is still where investors are looking hardest. The division’s adjusted operating profit fell 11.5% last year and margin narrowed to 7.0% from 7.9%, though Bunzl said leadership changes, cost actions and better supplier engagement improved performance in the second half. 4
There were steadier signals in the numbers. Bunzl reported 95% cash conversion, 579 million pounds of free cash flow, a 0.3% rise in the full-year dividend to 74.1 pence, and said its acquisitions “pipeline remains active” as the outlook for deals improves in 2026. 4
The risk is that the repair takes longer. Bunzl still expects 2026 margin to edge down, warned that economic and geopolitical uncertainty will persist, and van Zanten told Reuters there was “no positive impact from tariffs” in the results; the company also flagged demand pressure in parts of food processing, convenience stores and Mexico. 4
Reuters reported on March 2 that annual profit had beaten forecasts and that new business wins offset some first-half weakness, pushing the shares up 2.37% that day. Even after Friday’s rise, Bunzl’s board says the share price performance “did not meet expectations” in 2025, and Friday volume of 981,850 shares was below the 50-day average of 1.2 million. 5
